News - Page №7

Both over-the-top (OTT) video and operator-owned multiscreen (TV Everywhere) services continue to grow in the UK, and the island nation now leads its European neighbours for adoption of both.

Switzerland’s biggest telco has promised free access to its IPTV service ‘Swisscom TV’ to all of its DSL broadband customers, and more than doubled the number of channels available to its existing IPTV subs.

Over-the-top (OTT) video services will generate an estimated US$ 8.2bn worldwide this year – a figure which will likely quadruple over the next five years to reach US$ 32bn by 2017, according to US firm ABI Research.

The number of pay-TV providers in Western Europe offering multiscreen services will almost double over the next four years from approximately 50 in 2012 to 90 by 2016, according to US research firm Park Associates.

There were 69mn subscribers to managed IPTV services globally by the end of the first half of this year, with all regions seeing strong uptake and together adding 15.9mn customers over the preceding 12 months, according to new figures from industry body the Broadband Forum.

South Korean telco LG Uplus has partnered with Google to deliver its managed IPTV service via Google TV set-top boxes, becoming the first IPTV operator to do so, according to local news agency Yonhap News.

Fast emerging as the new hot topic for broadcasters and TV operators looking to increase viewer engagement, social TV services are set for meteoric growth over the next five years, according to a new report from US firm MarketsandMarkets.

The number of high-definition channels in Europe continues to rise sharply, with a total of 941 available across the continent by October 2012, compared to 274 at the end of 2009 and 612 by the end of 2011, according to public body the European Audiovisual Observatory.

Chinese telco China Unicom has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for the acquisition of 1.34mn IPTV set-top boxes, of which roughly half would be SD and half HD.

Infotainment portal Sina.com.cn reports that the tender follows closely on the heels of a separate RFP issued by rival China Telecom last August for around 4.86mn smart, SD and HD IPTV set-top boxes.

Consumer demand for televisions with the ultra-high-definition 4K resolution will remain negligible for the foreseeable future, with shipments never accounting for more than 1 percent of the global LCD TV market during the next five years, says research firm IHS.

Worldwide shipments of 4K LCD TVs are predicted to reach 2.1mn units by 2017, up from 4,000 this year, but still only accounting for 0.8 percent of global shipments by 2017.

The worldwide pay-TV market will continue to grow this year despite a decline in North America as consumers migrate to over-the-top (OTT) services, according to a new report from ABI Research.

US investment research house Zacks has suggested that major satellite TV operator DISH Network (the second-largest pay-TV operator in the US) is planning to launch an over-the-top (OTT) video service targeting younger viewers.

You may have noticed that Apple had an event yesterday and there has been more than a little excitement around the new iPhone.

Media discovery app Shazam has been improved dramatically to recognise any TV show on any channel, anytime in the US, and has also reached the considerable milestone of a quarter of a billion users globally.

This year’s IBC broadcasting trade show which just finished in Amsterdam attracted 50,947 visitors over the course of its six days – up very marginally on last year’s 50,462 attendees.